Chapter 26
Dillon opened her eyes and smiled when she felt Cal’s body pressed against her from behind. He had his arm draped over her waist. It had been a long time since she’d had someone in her bed, and she had to admit, she liked Cal there.
Her smile widened when she thought of his words from the night before.
They had taken her by surprise. Then again, it wasn’t every day that a handsome cowboy told her that he’d been searching his entire life for her.
She sighed, remembering how tender their loving had been.
How earth-shattering her orgasm. How fiery their passion.
This kind of thing didn’t happen to her. She wanted to believe that it was real, but her past made her question things. It wasn’t that Dillon didn’t think she was worthy. It was simply that she’d never expected to feel the crazy, wonderful, indescribable emotions.
Cal sucked in a breath and pulled her tighter against him. “Good morning, beautiful.”
My God. How was she to stand against his sexy voice deepened with sleep? She turned in his arms to look at him. She smiled at the growth of whiskers on his face and his half-open eyes. “Good morning to you.”
“What? I don’t get a handsome or anything?” he teased.
She laughed and smoothed locks of his dark blond hair from his face. “Good morning, handsome.”
“Much better,” he said with a crooked smile. He gave her a soft kiss. “No regrets?”
Dillon shook her head. “Not a one.”
“Me, neither.”
“The day awaits us.”
He groaned and placed kisses over her face. “We could stay in bed.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
“That’s exactly what I want to do.”
She pushed him back and looked into his gray eyes. “Trust me. I want a day in bed with you. We’ll have it soon.”
He sobered instantly. “What’s on your mind?”
“I think we need to dig into what’s so valuable about my ranch.”
“Some would say the land is valuable enough.”
She shivered as he ran his fingers slowly down her side. “I’d rather know exactly what Hank wants.”
“He spoke to me last night.”
That got her attention. “What did he say?”
“He tried to make me believe that he wasn’t part of Legacy’s theft.”
“Figures,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
Cal’s fingers moved down to her hip. “I didn’t believe him. I asked him how I got onto your land, but he said he didn’t have a clue. I didn’t believe that, either.”
“Is that all he said?”
Cal’s gaze briefly slid away. “It was—”
“Tell me,” she interrupted.
He took her hand in his. “Hank made a comment that it was time you found a man, implying that a woman couldn’t run a ranch properly.”
“Chauvinistic pig,” she spat.
“I told him you were doing a fine job.”
She smiled at Cal. “Did you really?”
“Yep. Because I believe it.”
Dillon leaned forward and placed her lips on his for a lingering kiss. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“If you don’t want me to ravish you, then you’d better get out of bed now.”
She hesitated, wondering if he was serious. When he reached for her, she shrieked in laughter and rolled out of bed, his hands just missing her. Dillon ran to the end of the bed and looked back at him. Cal was on his knees, his arousal thick and hard as it jutted from between his legs.
“Don’t look at me like that unless you want to be late this morning,” he warned as he moved toward her.
She wanted nothing more than to have more private time with Cal, but the problems surrounding her needed to be addressed first. Then, she’d get all the time she wanted with him.
“You’re still here,” he said in a voice that was low and filled with need.
Dillon lifted her chin. “I wanted to give you one more look. It’ll have to last until tonight.”
“You minx,” he said with a smile as he jumped from the bed.
She laughed and hurried into the bathroom. She tried to close the door, but he managed to push it open. Then he had her pressed against the wall, his mouth on hers as he rocked his hips against her. She was powerless to resist his kisses—or the feel of his hard cock.
Yet, it was Cal who ended the kiss. He closed his eyes, his chin to his chest, and his hands against the wall on either side of her head. He breathed heavily, and for several moments, he didn’t move.
Finally, he lifted his head. “Just so you know, the minute work is done, I’m going to throw you over my shoulder and bring you up here, strip you out of your clothes, and make you scream with pleasure.”
Her sex clenched just thinking about it. “Promise?”
“Yeah. And I keep my promises.”
He gave her another soft kiss before pushing away from the wall and walking away.
Dillon leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
Maybe she was a fool for not taking the chance she had with Cal while it was there.
She’d been shot at twice, yet somehow, miraculously, hadn’t been struck.
Nothing had happened for four days, but that could be because whoever wanted her dead was attempting to lull her into thinking it was over.
She wasn’t that stupid. They hadn’t given up.
They would come for her one way or another.
And that scared the hell out of her. It was easy to stay in the safety of Cal’s arms and pretend that everything was as it should be in the world.
But that was a coward’s way out, and she most definitely wasn’t a coward.
Dillon readied herself for the day and went downstairs. She found Cal waiting for her with a smile and an already heated breakfast sandwich and some coffee.
“Careful,” she warned, “I could get used to this.”
He winked at her. “Why do you think I’m doing it?”
It was bad enough that Cal was movie-star handsome. When he added his special kind of charm, she didn’t stand a chance.
“I’m going to be doing some work in my office today,” she told him.
Cal raised his brows. “I’ll install the cameras.”
She was taken aback. “Cameras? When did you get those?”
“Found them in the barn. They were in a box. Most are game cameras, but there are two regular ones.”
Dillon chewed a bite of her sandwich and swallowed. “I had no idea. Will it be difficult to get them installed?”
“I don’t foresee an issue.”
“Should we tell everyone we have them?”
Cal hesitated as he finished the last of his breakfast. “If we do, that could prevent someone from coming onto the property—or at least close to the house.”
“And if we don’t?”
“Then we have a good chance of catching whoever is responsible.”
Dillon glanced out the window. “This is going to sound horrible, but I don’t want anyone but you and me to know.”
“Not even Emmett or Dusty?”
She shook her head.
“Your ranch, your call,” Cal said.
“You don’t agree?”
He covered her hand with his. “You’ve been through a lot, and you have no idea who to trust. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep this information to yourself. Though, there’s one other person you might want to consider notifying.”
“Who?”
“Chet.”
She nodded as she considered Cal’s words. “I trust him. He’s not from here. But that doesn’t mean Hank doesn’t have him in his pocket like he does the sheriff.”
“I don’t think so. That’s not to say I haven’t been fooled a few times. But, generally, if you look hard enough, you can see a person’s true colors. I think the ranger is trustworthy.”
Dillon wiped her hands as she finished her meal. “Then I’ll contact Chet and let him know once you have the cameras installed.”
“There are six game cameras and two regulars. Where would you like them?”
She scratched her head as she moved to a window and looked out at the ranch. “The game cameras are meant to be hidden. Camouflaged, right?”
“That’s right.”
“One at the main entrance of the ranch and one at the back. One at the front of the house. I want the remaining three facing Hank’s land. I know they won’t be able to see everything, but we’ll have to find the best locations.”
Cal came up beside her. “And the two regular cameras?”
She turned her head to him. “One facing the barn and as much of the paddocks as possible. I want the other facing the back of the house.”
“All the cameras are wireless and battery-operated, so they should go up easily. I’ll still need to drill a few places for the cameras to the barn and house. The one along the fence line with Ivy Ridge will require more time.”
She spotted Dusty and Emmett saddling their horses for the day. “We’ll be alone here for a bit, which should make it easy for you to install the cameras. After lunch, we’ll go for a ride to check the fences and put up the others.”
“I won’t be far,” he told her. “If you see or hear anything, let me know.”
Dillon smiled and grabbed his belt loop to pull him close. She gave him a kiss. “Promise,” she whispered and walked away.
As she reached the kitchen door, she looked over her shoulder to find Cal staring at her, his eyes smoldering with hunger. She flashed him a smile.
“You’re going to pay for that,” he promised with a wink.
Dillon stopped and watched him leave the house.
Her smile faded. Precautions were being taken.
She just hoped it would be enough. She was glad that Cal had found the cameras, but she wished they had been discovered much earlier.
High-profile ranches like Hank’s had expensive security systems with surveillance everywhere.
It wasn’t something Dolly had ever looked into.
At least, that’s what Dillon had been led to believe.
She had never spoken with her aunt about such things when Dolly had been alive.
It was Emmett who had told her that Dolly had just never gotten around to such things.
That didn’t make sense to Dillon since she knew that her aunt had been meticulous in running the ranch.
Putting up cameras would’ve been expensive, but they would’ve saved the ranch money in the long run.
That was definitely something Dolly would’ve undertaken.
Now that Cal had found the cameras, it was obvious that Dolly had taken the first steps.
But why hadn’t they been put up? Why hadn’t Emmett known about them?